Agriculture - Current Affairs for February, 2017

The International Spice Conference, beginning here on Feb 12, will deliberate on effective strategies and innovative technologies to improve the livelihood of spices farmers and address challenges being faced by the industry.

More than 700 delegates representing various states, Industry leaders from 40 countries, International Spice Associations representatives, Policy makers and End-Users are among those participating.

The second edition of the conference would also address food safety concerns, demand supply disparity and ways to foster sustainable growth.

The conference is being hosted by the All India Spices Exporters Forum (AISEF) which represents about to 80% of spices exports from India in collaboration with Cochin Chamber of Commerce and Industry.

AISEF celebrated its Silver Jubilee last year by laying a milestone with the first International Spice Conference (ISC) at Goa focusing on Sustainability and food safety of the spice industry.

The central theme of the conference would be “21st Century Spice Industry - Disrupt or be Disrupted.”

Sessions: India's International Spice Conference

• Spice Cultivation & Challenges Ahead,
• Products and Operational Excellence-Innovation,
• Disruption in Spice Quality standards- Food safety and Sustainability,
• Codex MRLs- Need for reforms and
• Value Added Spices- Building a Culture of Innovation

British royalty Prince Charles has launched a new Digital Green App.

This is for Indian farmers. The app aims to help them sell their crops online. It is part of the prince's charity initiatives for India.

The 68-year-old British royalty provided details of the app part of the Rural Livelihoods Fund created by the British Asian Trust in 2017.

The trust is also in the process of setting up a development impact bond for promoting children's education in Rajasthan and Gujarat.

Through this initiative, locally led solutions such as digital app will permit farmers to sell crops and arrange transport for crops online.

The Prince of Wales is the founder and president of BAT. This organisation works towards empowering people in South Asia by harnessing the diaspora in the UK.

This innovative idea will be supported by the Indian government and the Rabo Bank.

According to BAT, India has 25 per cent of the world's small farms, around 118 million in total.

It also holds that more than 50 per cent of Indians rely on agriculture for their livelihoods.

Small holders live mostly In poverty. Prince Chalres launched the Indian focused fund in 2016.